Life on the Side
by FlaxenHairedSamurai
Summary: I was born to fight. I was born to be a soldier. I wasn't born to come to Earth and watch the battle from the side lines. My name's Chaser, and as cliché as it sounds, this is my story.
1. A Friend Lost

**A/N: This is me saying that I do not own Transformers Prime, only Chaser. I would also point out, if this story seems odd in any way that means I'm telling it my way. Also some ideas were borrowed from other Fan Fiction writers. If writing is bold, that's Bumblebee talking.**

Chaser's POV  
"Ratchet, pull on the left switch." I said, bolting another screw into place. To my right, a mini bang sounded. "Not _your_ left! _My_ left!" I yelled. Me and Ratchet were running diagnostics on the super computer in base, before everybody left for patrol.  
Just as I was wiping the oil off my face (don't ask!) and pushing my goggles onto the remnants of my ponytail, all bots came into the main room, and out through the Ground Bridge. Even Ratchet, so I was on base watch. Luckily Arcee and Cliffjumper were extending their comm link to me so I wasn't completely alone.  
After about an hour, Cliff decided to entertain with one his many stories of his many run ins with the local cops of every country.  
"So there I am, on the lookout when suddenly, these high beams light up my rear views, and then it hits me. I'm illegally parked!" Arcee didn't sound impressed.  
"Another parking ticket?"  
"Better," Cliff answered, "the boot!" At base I laughed,  
"Big metal tyre clamp, impossible to remove."  
"Bingo!" he cheered. "So the local police do their thing, and I let 'em get all the way down the block, that's when I kick off my shiny new shoe and BANG!"  
"New York's finest soil themselves." Cee finished, about to laugh.  
"You know me Arcee, you mess with Cliffjumper…"  
"And you get the horns." Cee and I said, having heard it a million times. Arcee scolded Cliff, reminding him of Autobot rule number one: Keep a low profile.  
"Cliff's got a point Cee; scouting for energon is even more boring here!"  
"Like Jasper, Nevada's a party place? We're alone wherever we go on this rock." Before he could tell us to stop being dramatic, Cliffjumper's sensors went wild. "Need backup?" Arcee asked, also hearing the noise.  
"Do I ever need backup?" Cliff asked arrogantly. Not three minutes later though, "Cee, about that backup…" I jumped to get med bay ready whilst CeeCee alerted the others.  
"Bumblebee, Arcee, you're close enough to base to drive back. Everyone else, sit tight." I pulled the switch for three ground bridges, and once everyone was through, I sent them to Cliff's coordinates.  
About five minutes passed, and they came back through without Cliffjumper. Arcee was holding one of his horns. "No!"

An eagle shrieked somewhere in the sky, but we were all distracted. Cliffjumper was gone. "We must not allow our anger over the loss of Cliffjumper to impair our judgement. As of today, only we six Autobots remain on this Earth. We owe it to ourselves, to the memory of Cybertron, to any Autobots in any galaxy seeking safe harbour, to humankind." Arcee stepped forward and placed one of Cliff's horns on the cairn. It wasn't fair. "We owe it to our fallen comrade to survive." Optimus finished his speech as CeeCee stood straight up. "Arcee…"  
"If Cliff's gone standing around here sulking won't bring him back. So if nobody minds, I think I'll get back to protecting human kind." She walked away and transformed. I looked after her, mind racing.  
"Optimus, protecting humans could only lead to more disaster." Ratchet whispered.  
"Your opinion is noted."  
"I'm going after her, Bee?"

Me and Bumblebee (in his alt mode) followed her discreetly. Not easy in a bright yellow Urbana. Activating Sadie, her hologram driver, Arcee headed straight into Jasper. Behind her and in front of us were two twin cars. "Vehicons." I hissed to Bee. Evidently, Cee had seen them too, because she pulled into a lot, making the Cons pass her by. "Pull over!" I said to Bee, hiding low in the seat.  
Arcee hates it when I leave base, unless it's with her. The only outcome of that is I know every entrance in and out of base.  
Bee pulled into an alley, and both of us watched as a boy got on Cee, the cons came back and my older sister sped out of there with the boy still on her back. "Drive! Drive!" I yelled pulling on the seatbelt.  
We followed them onto the highway, where Bumblebee wove side to side in front of them, so Arcee would have time to get the kid to safety. They went to the left and we did the same but one sped ahead forcing Arcee off the road. The other joined him. Bee did a swerve, did a leap of faith from the highway, and transformed in mid-air.

Normal POV  
Raf and Jack watched as a girl fell behind the yellow robot, which was there to help the woman robot they were with. As she fell they heard her yelling, "Bumblebee! How many times have I told you not to transform with passengers unless you are standing still!" Then she hit the concrete ground head on. Both boys reeled back a bit, watching her stumble up to her feet.  
Jack ran over to her and helped her up, only to drop her when he saw the blue blood coming from her nose. "Ow! That's going to require some attention!" She cried.  
While the bots were fighting, Bumblebee stepped on what used to be Raf's toy car. He beeped an apology which was accepted. Meanwhile, the femme had noticed the girl,  
"Chaser? What are you doing here?" Jack helped the girl to her feet, only to be shrugged off.  
"Lecture me later sis." Chaser called out.  
"Sis?" Jack and Raf both repeated. Meanwhile Bumblebee was recovering from a blast to the chest, when a Vehicon pushed his foot onto his head. He aimed his blaster at the scout's face, only to be stopped by Raf,  
"Leave him alone! Please?" The con turned to the three humans and aimed his blaster at them, shooting one at the girl's feet, which she dodged just as her sister had, back flipping.  
"Not good!" Chaser yelled, running away from the danger.  
Taking this as a good idea, both boys followed, only to realise she was standing into a pipe. "Get in!" she commanded, helping Raf up. Jack got in next, followed by Chaser. The Vehicon reached into the pipe, and almost reached the kids, only to be pulled away by Bumblebee.  
"Are you three alright?"**  
**"Thank you!" Raf said, much to Chaser's surprise,  
"You can understand him?" Jack grabbed Raf's shoulders,  
"Don't look back!" He ordered walking through the pipe with Chaser heading the opposite way.  
"What did we just see?" Raf asked.  
"No idea and I'm not sure I want to find out!"

Chaser's POV  
Bumblebee took a hit to the stomach, and then was kneed in the face. He was thrown back to where Arcee was just re-joining the battle. A horn suddenly sounded, and Bulkhead drove up and transformed, "Who's ready to rumble?" He challenged. The Vehicons transformed and sped away.  
"Kids got away safe," I reported, coming back up to the trio. More energon dripped onto my shirt, hopefully I'll get it out without too much fuss.  
"What took you?" Arcee asked Bulk,  
"Traffic!"

"And the cons would have been scrap metal if I hadn't have been distracted by the human." That got Optimus's attention,  
"Human?"  
**"Two boys, one her age."** Bee said, pointing at me.  
"Who's 'her'? The scraplet's creator?" I asked, holding ice to my broken nose.  
"I guess a second one caught us in action, I don't know. Was a little busy at the time!" Arcee pointed out.  
"Well, your favourite little sister just found them!" I announced holding up my laptop. "Rafael Esquivel and Jackson Darby. They attend the local high school. Lucky scrappers." I muttered. Hey! I get bored too!  
"If the Decepticons are targeting us, anyone perceived as our ally, will be at grave risk." Optimus pondered.

Me and Bumblebee were driving at normal speeds to the local high school. I was there because we thought that if they saw another human, they would know we weren't going to kidnap them.  
Both boys were standing on the corner talking. Jack had ignored Arcee in the car lot of the school. This should be fun.

**Sorry, first fic. Read and Review please!**


	2. First Impressions

**As much as I wish it, I don't own Transformers Prime. Also, if any ideas do seem familiar, or characters are OOC, feel free to shame me!**

* * *

Normal POV  
The yellow Urbana pulled up next to the boys. The door next to them opened to reveal the girl from yesterday. The car beeped at them. "We need you to come with us," The girl translated. "My name is Chaser." Raf was about to get in, before Jack asked if she meant both of them.

The car beeped again. This time it was Raf, who spoke for him,  
"No, just me. Your's is over there." Jack followed the finger. It was pointed at Arcee.

"You're lucky you know." Chaser said giving a grin. "My sister barely lets me on." Before Jack could question her last statement, Raf was in the car and Chaser was standing next to him. "Hey, I don't like this any more than you do. But trust me." She said, looking right at him, before turning her head. Jack just walked away from her, so Chaser got onto her sister's alt mode and followed him, making sure to hold onto Sadie.

Chaser's POV  
"Hey!" I yelled, "We just want to talk!" Jack ignored us, so we swerved in front of him in the alley.

"Don't you mean you and your new friend?"

"Kid, there's a lot you don't understand." Arcee deactivated Sadie and drove a little closer.

"No, I get it. First rule of Robot Fight Club is, don't talk about Robot Fight Club! But didn't you have a broken nose yesterday?"

"Self repair systems." I shrugged.

"What you guys need to understand is that I don't want a bunch of crazy talking vehicles following me around, trying to get me killed!"

Arcee transformed behind us and crouched down. "Look, Jack is it? Your personal safety is exactly why Optimus Prime has requested your presence. You are one of the few, the only few who have seen us."

"Dude! What are you waiting for? Go with!" All of us looked up to see a girl watching us from around the corner of a building.

"Scrap!" Arcee cursed, looking at me, "I thought you were on surveillance?"

"Hey! Don't blame me!" Jack suddenly thought of something,

"Is she coming too?" Nods from me and Cee. "But there are only two seats; can you call the other one back?" I took off my jacket and passed it to Cee,  
"It's a lovely day for a run. I think I'll be fine!"

I raced passed Jack, the girl and Arcee on the highway. "Catch me if you can slowpokes!"  
"And why exactly are we bringing her?" Jack called out, indicating the girl,  
"Rules." Arcee responded.

We came up to the secret entrance to base, darting past a stop sign. We were all ignoring Jack's yells as the rock opened up allowing us access. "I thought there were only two?" Ratchet said as I raced up to my area, to grab some things.  
"Haven't you heard? Humans multiply." Arcee said, lifting up a foot as I ran under.

Then I passed the confused humans and down the hall to my room. I think I passed Optimus at one point. Returning to the main base, I sunk into a chair and put my jacket back on.  
The kids introduced themselves, the girl being Miko. She immediately ran up to Bulkhead.

"Who are you?"  
"Bulkhead."  
"Are you a car? I bet you're a monster truck! Do you like heavy metal? How much do you weigh? Ever use a wrecking ball as a punching bag?"

Me and Ratchet watched in horror, as Raf posed his question,

"So if you guys are robots, who built you?"  
"Pur-lease!" Ratchet grumbled.

The ground started shaking, meaning Optimus was approaching, call it a feeling.

"We are automatous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron. Also known as Autobots."  
"Why are you here?" Jack asked, stepping forwards.  
"To protect your planet, from the Decepticons."  
"The jokers who tried to bump us off last night." Arcee added, leaning against the wall.

"Okay…why are they here?"  
"A fair question Jack, in part, they are here because our planet is inhabitable, ravaged by centuries of civil war."  
"Why were you fighting a war?" Raf asked, curious.

"Foremost, over our planets supply of energon, the fuel and lifeblood of all Autobots and Decepticons alike." Optimus's optic opened up, showing us the memory of Cybertron on fire. "The combat was fierce, and endured for centuries. In the beginning, I fought alongside one whom I considered a brother. But in war, ideals can be corrupted, and it was thus that Megatron lost his way."

Miko sighed loudly, "Is there going to be quiz?"

"So what has Megatron or any of this, have to do with us?" Jack asked, clearly confused.  
"Megatron has not been seen or heard from in some time, but if his return is eminent, as I fear, it could be catastrophic."

Normal POV

Everyone was silent, Optimus continued,  
"And since you now know of our existence, I fear that as of last night, the Decepticons know of yours."

"Got it. If we see any strange vehicles call 911. Can we go now?" Miko looked at Jack angrily,  
"Are you insane? I am living a dream here in Botswana, and I will not allow you or anyone else to shatter it!"

"It is best that you three remain under our watch. At least until we can be sure of our enemy's intentions." Ratchet stepped next to Optimus, clearly troubled.  
"Optimus, with all due respect, human children are in as much danger here as anywhere. I mean, look at Chaser."

"Children?" Jack said disbelievingly.  
"What'd you mean look at me!" Chaser crossed her arms in a huff, turning away.

"They have no protective shell! If they get underfoot they will go… squish!" Ratchet continued taking a step forward.  
"Then for the time being, Ratchet, we must watch where we step."

An alarm went off bathing the base in a green light.

Chaser's POV  
"Uh-oh," Fowler alert!" I muttered.

The kids were scared, but Bumblebee reassured them. "I thought we were the only humans to know about you guys?" Jack pointed out.  
"Special Agent Fowler is our liaison with the outside world. As he tends to visit only when there are…issues, Chaser, take them and hide them." I did as I was told, and they were soon positioned behind a staircase. The elevator came down and our favourite agent walked out.

Sensing the sarcasm?

"Seven wrecks, thirty-four fender benders, three hour traffic jam and a particular note, numerous reports of a speeding motorcycle of unknown make and a black and yellow muscle car! So, anything you'd care to get off your tin chest, Prime!" Jack had poked his head around, but stepped back when I waved my hand behind my back.  
"We have the situation under control."

"They're back aren't they?"  
"If you are referring to the Decepticons, I have doubts they ever left. Your planet is much too valuable."

"Then it's time to wake up the Pentagon!"

My eyes widened, and Arcee lifted me onto her shoulder,  
"Hear me Agent Fowler, we are your best, maybe your only defence against the Decepticon threat!"  
"Says you!"

"Hey fleshy!" Bulkhead called, "Did anyone get splattered on that freeway? Team Prime knows when to use force," He pulled a claw off of one of Ratchets tools, "And how much to use!" He crushed it in his grip.  
"Bulkhead, I NEEDED THAT!" Our angry CMO yelled.  
"Put it on my 'fix it' pile!" I shouted.

"Enough!" Optimus lectured. Me, Bulk and Ratchet mumbled an apology like Sparklings. "Military involvement will only result in catastrophe. Perhaps you can condone wide-spread human casualties, Agent Fowler, I however, cannot."  
"Then do us both a favour and handle this Prime! _Under_ the radar!" Fowler stepped into the elevator and pressed a button, "Or I will." He added as the doors closed.

"Pretty big bearings, for a human." Bulkhead observed,  
"He is simply worried about his planet. As he should be." Another alarm sounded, so Ratchet hit the keyboard to the computer _again._

"You know, that pile's not going to get any smaller with you adding to it!" I said grabbing my goggles.

"This stupid Earth tech's glitching again." he said, "Cliffjumper's life signal just came back online!"  
All of us whipped our heads round at that.  
"Who's Cliffjumper?" Miko asked. She went unanswered.

"How it that possible?"  
"It isn't! Another bug, the system's chock full of them!"

"If there's any chance Cliff's alive…!" Arcee said, full of hope. Already I had a bad feeling about this.  
"Ratchet, prepare the ground bridge."  
"Hey!" Miko called, "What can we do?"

"Remain with Chaser."  
"Awww."  
"Awww." I complained.

So the rescue op began. Once again I would be on base watch.  
Everyone went through the ground bridge and was transported safely. "Whoa, what just happened?" Jack cried.  
"They teleported through the ground bridge, ask Ratchet when he gets back." I sighed and slipped my headset on, "Autobots, do you read me?"  
"Loud and clear."

"Good, I cannot trace you so the ground-bridge will open from where you are now. Call me as soon as you need one."

"Affirmative."  
Optimus rang off leaving me to face the kids.

Jack was about sixteen, my human form's age, had a white shirt underneath a grey one and was wearing jeans.

Raf was ginger, had an orange sweater vest, again on top of a white shirt and had glasses.

Miko was Asian and her black hair (with pink highlights) was tied into two messy buns and a thin ponytail down her back. She wore a tank top over a normal top, shorts and knee length boots.

I guess they were taking in my looks as well. I have blonde hair scraped back into a messy ponytail, blue eyes and I was wearing my goggles as a hat, a white shirt, a short sleeved purple jacket and purple jeans. I stuck to my original colour scheme from my bot form. Purple with white accents. If you look closely, you can see flecks of lavender replacing the blue.

"You alright?" It was Jack.

"Yeah, I just don't think they should have gone."

"Why?"

"Because if it was a bug, Arcee will never get over it. And that wouldn't be fair."

I pulled out my laptop and brought up the base mainframe. Ground Bridge coordinates, match up with satellite images… "Urrgh!" The three looked up at my sudden outburst. About seven errors. "Where's my hammer?"

"So why are you using human technology?" Raf asked. I looked up,

"Because it's all we've scrappin got. What was I looking for? Hammer!" I continued my search, eventually only finding my welder. I clicked it on, preparing to fry the system. Yep, I think it could've worked.

I turned around, seeing Raf doing some serious typing.

"Try it now."

"Autobot Outpost Omega One, bring up satellite imagery." The whole base did a search, all coming up with the same picture. "An energon mine. They had better bring some back."

"Energon?" Jack was leaning against a computer console, confusion clear.

"What keeps us alive. How else?"

"Blood?" I snorted and shut down my laptop. "What's so funny?"

"That red liquid? Pur-lease. Energon is so much more, helps us to transform, feeds us…"

"Is beaten around your body by a heart, if too much leaves you die." I looked at him, smiling.

"Touché." Miko, on the other hand was more intent on looking at me,

"So what do you transform into?" My hand shook,

"Autobot Outpost, pull up file on Delta Squad mission 120, image 28!" My old form appeared, just as I remembered.

"I mean now! On Earth!" I turned away from her and began to walk down the corridor.  
"Nothing."

* * *

A jolt suddenly shot through me, fright mainly. I held onto my headset, "Arcee, what just happened?"  
"Nothing Chaser, I'm fine."

"Then why…"

"Just ready the Ground Bridge, the cons have set a bomb!"

"Ground Bridge prepared." The kids were a little more prepared this time, but my focus wasn't on them.

Everybody came through closely followed by some rubble and a very loud noise that shook my cup of coffee from earlier. By the time the Bridge was closed, it had fallen and shattered.

Shutting off the Ground Bridge quickly, I took a look at the group. They were all shell shocked, Arcee most of all.

Miko was entranced by the explosion,

"Can I come next time?"

"Look," Arcee started, but stopped when Jack pulled Miko away,

"Let's go see what the Autobots hide in their sock drawers."

"Seriously?"

"Arcee, what did you see?" Optimus asked.

"Not Cliff, at least, not any more." She was holding her arms around herself, "He was mutated, butchered. Like something from those con experiments from the war."  
She collapsed suddenly, and I found myself on the floor being supported by Jack and Miko,

"What just happened?" Jack asked handing me over to Bulkhead, who set me down next to Cee.

"We're fine." Arcee lied, but she was clutching a crate and I felt myself go very pale, "Just dizzy."  
"Yeah, dizzy." I agreed.

"Robots who get dizzy?"  
"Robots with emotions?"  
"Robots who can die." The kids observed.

Ratchet ran a scanner over us, and kept returning to our hands.  
"What is this?" He questioned, scraping something purple off of Arcee's servo.

"Don't know, Cliff was covered in it, leaking it."

"Go take a decontamination bath _now._" Bee picked me up and supported Arcee to the chamber. Jack meanwhile had noticed the time.

"Uh, Optimus? I've got to go home or the cops will be looking for me." Optimus pulled himself level with Jack,

"Have you broken a law?"

"Curfew." Miko and Raf nodded. Must be some human custom.

"Very well, I must assign you all guardians. Bumblebee, you will be with Rafael," cue whirs and beeps from the scout, "Bulkhead, you will be with Miko. Ratchet…"

"Busy watching Chaser at base."

"Arcee, you'll accompany Jack." Neither of us looked pleased,

"Still so dizzy!" I bluffed.

"You're both fine, says your physician!" Ratchet exclaimed, not turning around.

"With the way you got out of guardian duty, you're more like a nanny!" I said, ducking to avoid the wrench that was sent at my head.  
It hit the pillar behind me, "Ha! You missed!"

"Are you sure?" I turned round, just in time to catch the next one with my face.

* * *

Normal POV  
Chaser was up late adjusting the arm-blades. Since Arcee had to stay in the garage all night, the two sisters had to talk using the sibling bond. "So he made this very long speech about how it was his dream to own a motorcycle, during which he called me cheap!"

Chaser winced, reaching across for her welding torch, "So what did you do to him?"

"Nothing, his mom was right there. She made him agree to a thousand rules and then asked him to give her a ride sometime. Why do parents worry so much?"

"Cee, all species worry about their young,"

"I remember us taking a lot of the worry about you for them."

"I know."

"It's late, go to sleep."

"Fine, night."

"Night kiddo."

* * *

"So then they ask what I transform into now that I'm human! Should I be offended?" Ratchet sighed as Chaser finished up the story of her time with the humans. Truth be told, he'd only asked if they'd touched anything.

"I don't know. Young bots these days." Chaser smirked and hopped down from the ledge she had been sitting on.

"Thanks Ratchet. Any news on the goo?"

"Whatever it is, it effected you and Arcee a bit too quickly for my liking."

"Aw, you do care." Ratchet scowled at her, neither noticing the single drop off goo that landed on the claw. "Back to serious matters, how long do you reckon it will take for Megatron to return?"

"I don't know. Why do you…What was that?"

Chaser set her audios to high sensitivity. A low scuttling could be heard. Chaser grabbed a wrench and held it like a sword,

"Hello?" She took a few steps forward, "Optimus?" The scuttling grew louder, as something crawled out of the shadows. The claw now had one optic, purple, and was heading for the frozen techno organic. "R-Ratchet!"

Chaser's POV  
The claw scuttled closer, but leapt up before it could reach me. "What in the name of the AllSpark!" Ratchet tried everything, but eventually, Optimus shot it, and stepped on it.

Seriously, I only fell asleep for two minutes! But Miko had brought that torture instrument called a guitar, and next thing I know, its goodbye couch, hello concrete.  
I pulled myself up, deciding to show off a little. "Hi guys. You're weird upside down." I passed three very confused kids, and Bulkhead. My hands padded softly, different from my rubber soles.

Finally I righted myself, energon rushing to my head. "By the way, it's rude to wake someone up when they're attempting to rest." Miko shrugged,

"Not the first time someone's insulted my guitar playing. Play an instrument?"

"The blaster. Light, compact, and so easy to use."

"Not what I meant." The alarm went off, and the elevator began to drop. I scanned the room for quick hiding places, finding only one.

"Quick, behind Bulk!"

"What!" All three kids ran behind his foot, just as the liaison walked out. I took my place beside Bulk, arms crossed behind my back.

"Prime!"

Normal POV  
"He's not here."

"Nobody's here, except for us." Even to their own ears, the lie sounded weak.

"Let me guess, he's out pancaking a mini mall?" Chaser snarled, the low sound scarily suiting her. Fowler on the other hand, continued, "Look, I don't now what language you bots speak, but Prime promised he would handle the Decepticons. And blowing a crater in the middle of Nebraska is not what the word handle means in English, so you tell Prime…"  
Fowler trailed off, noticing the amplifier being dragged, "Since when did you bots go electric?"

Miko got ready to give herself up, but Chaser stepped closer, taking the guitar from her and winking.

"You caught me, I've been trying to learn guitar, but only when the others aren't around. But Bulkhead found it and got curious, right Bulk?" Fowler didn't believe her,  
"Really? Play an A chord." Chaser's eyes went wide, but she took the guitar in hand.

Her hand slammed down on the strings, causing an ear splitting wail. Chaser yelled and covered her ears, dropping the guitar. Miko ran out to rescue it, too late realising what she had done.  
Raf and Jack followed, looking down.

Fowler was livid. "Contact with civilians! Let me guess, you're running a day care! Or you!" he yelled, turning to Chaser. She didn't flinch. "You got lonely and invited them over. Prime has gone too far this time! They're coming with me for protection!" He yelled walking to the kids. Bulkhead slammed his foot down. As he dodged back, Jack noticed a wrench in Chaser's hand.

"_We're _protecting them." She answered. Fowler walked towards the only phone in base, saying he was going to call the Pentagon.  
An Autobot acted, causing sparks to spit from the phone.

"It's broken." Bulkhead shrugged. Fowler left in a huff.  
Sighing, Chaser turned to everyone, "Where did the rest of us go?"

"Optimus went with Ratchet on a mystery mission, and Arcee left with Bumblebee to calm down." Chaser nodded examining the phone. She gently removed  
something from the circuitry.

"Frag," she muttered, "that was my favourite wrench." An alarm went off and a message popped up on the base's main computer. Bulkhead looked at it.

"It's an SOS, from Fowler."

"Bulk, look…" Surrounding the signal were thousands of red arrows.

"What does that mean?" Raf asked. Chaser looked at him, concern on her face.

"Remember the ones we were fighting on Thursday?" Raf nodded. "Well let's just say those are the next ones up in the military."

"Doesn't matter anyway, why should we help him?"

"Bulkhead!" Chaser shrieked, "He's our liaison!"

"So?"

"So, he backs down from _friendly _bots," Miko interjected, "he knows your location!"  
Beside her, Raf gulped. "Our location!"

Chaser's POV  
"But how do we track him?" Bulkhead asked. The signal on the computer had been still since it had come up. Cons grab and go.

"I know!" Raf called, grabbing his laptop from his bag. "Agencies tag their agents; all I have to do is hack into the database and find Fowler! There you go."  
He finished showing the screen to Bulk who immediately set the ground bridge to the coordinates. Before he ran through, he left me and Jack in charge.

"Uh, guys?" Jack and Raf looked at me. "Where's Miko?" I heard the bridge behind me still open. "Scrap!" I yelled running through.  
I just didn't expect the others to follow me.

The last time I was this close to the Decepticon warship, I was big enough to take on the Vehicons coming towards us.

Before they could open fire, a large green SUV had ran them down and dragged us inside. "What are you guys doing here?" Bulkhead's voice asked from the dashboard.  
"Following Miko, have you seen her?" Said girl then jumped out of her seat,

"What's she look like?" Bulkhead dropped us off by a rock and proceeded to storm the _Nemesis_. He clambered up a support, then continued taking out Vehicons as he went.

While he was on deck, he called down to us. None of us could hear him but he opened his chest panels to reveal Miko inside.  
Both went into the warship.

Normal POV  
Once Bulkhead was gone; the boys went after them despite Chaser's attempts to stop them.

As they seemed to be getting in ok, Chaser, who was still behind the rock, felt a Decepticon presence behind her.

Turning around, she came face to visor with Soundwave, the mute con. He reached a servo towards her, which she dodged with a backflip. Chaser then prepared to deliver a high kick to the top of his visor, but he grabbed her foot and threw her into the air.

Soundwave caught Chaser in one servo and placed stasis cuffs on her wrists with the other.

Another human for Starscream to interrogate.

* * *

**Uh-oh, Chaser's screwed. Review!**


	3. Old Enemies

**A/N: Guess what! I don't own Transformers! Only Chaser belongs to me. And thank you to Skyress98 the first to fav this story!**

Chaser's POV  
Soundwave marched me through the ship's corridors. He had no worry of me attempting an escape, as it was I couldn't even twitch a finger.

We passed endless doors that all looked the same, probably to stop any jailbreaks should the cons actually get a prisoner. As I walked passed yet another, I was yanked back by Soundwave.

The door in front of us opened to reveal Fowler, in more chains than were necessary and the Decepticon SIC Starscream. At the sound of the intrusion, the seeker turned around. "What is the meaning of this Soundwave?"

In answer, Soundwave pushed me forward onto my knees. "A human?" Starscream said, unimpressed.

_"Guys! Bulkhead told us to wait for him!" _ Soundwave 'said' using recordings of my voice. That certainly got Starscream's attention.

Behind him, Fowler was babbling to himself. I couldn't face the con, too much history to deal with. "Screamer, thought I'd seen the last of you when we destroyed your precious Space Bridge! Though, if you'd wanted to talk, you didn't have to drag me here!"

I could almost feel Starscream smile to himself. "The Autobot known as Chaser!" By this time Soundwave had left, leaving me with the backstabbing fragger.

The seeker lifted my chin up with a claw so I was looking at him. I put as much hate into my eyes as possible. He used another claw to lift me up by the cuffs. As my feet left the ground, I risked my next question.

"Fowler! How you holding up?"

"I don't want to stay in detention Mommy..."

Raising my eyebrows, I took it as confirmation he was not in the best condition. Starscream caught my minor concern, laughing in that irritating way of his.

"Humans are so delicate, don't you think? I wonder..."

Slowly, but carefully, he wrapped his claws around both of my arms. Then he began to _squeeze. _At first it was nothing, but I soon began to feel my bones cracking, even through the stasis cuffs.

"All you need to do is divulge the location of your base, and then you'll be released."

"Do you think I'm stupid? The second I tell you, you drop me then crush me underfoot!" I gasped out, finally feeling an arm snap.

Snarling, Starscream released me with one claw, then started to flex it.

I was so dead!

As I thought it, something hit the door with extreme force. After another hit, the door was down, and Bee and Bulk were stepping in. Starscream dropped me onto the floor and pointed his blaster at Fowler. "Not so fast!" He warned.

A smaller blaster tapped him on the ceiling from the vent. "I wouldn't!" Arcee said. "Oh but I might."

Silence,

"Now if you excuse us, Agent Fowler and I will take our leave." Fowler chose that point to say something about an emu giving Bee time to shoot and release the agent.

Starscream transformed and fled, his jets burning Arcee in the face.

Me and Fowler were bundled into Bumblebee's alt mode and driven through the ship. We found the kids after a while and Miko and Raf came with us and Jack got on Arcee, who was not happy we'd left the base. Fowler leaned in between the seats saying he wanted pie, thoroughly weirding me out.

"You found Fowler, rock on!" Miko cheered.

We left the ship and went back home. Me and Fowler would need Ratchet's expertise, as I strongly expect there was an energon probe thrust at him more than once.

Once he and Optimus returned, from their top secret zombie mission, I received the usual lecture, along with arm casts.

Though it was tempting not to, he also helped me get the cuffs off.

"The stasis has been removed, all you have to do is break away the cuffs." Ratchet advised, looking over his new arm attachment that Optimus was fitting. I guess the undead weren't exactly welcoming.

I looked all around, finally coming to rest on Bulkhead. "Stay still please."

So while Optimus was discussing the stupidity of Bulkhead's actions, I was hitting my wrists off of the green lug's foot, until the cuffs sprang open.

I could hear Miko coming to Bulkhead's rescue, but chose to reoccupy myself with repairing the spring function on my blades. Yeah, that was before Megatron's name came up in the conversation.

If the Decepticon leader was back in charge, then we were in more trouble than before.

But once again my attention was snapped up by Jack and Miko starting an argument about how nearly dying was not a game.

"No one said that." I whispered softly.

"Excuse me?"

"I said: No one said that! No one has ever said it was a game!"

Abandoning Miko, Jack took his point over to me. "If this was just an average day with the Autobots-"

"Well I hate to inform that yes, it is! For longer than you can comprehend, we have seen our best friends killed for nothing more than who they were!"

Jack continued glaring, but turned on his heel. "Then I want out."

"Fine, see if I care." The coldness in my tone was bad, even to me. But if he thinks he can worm his way into this base without expecting any danger... I needed air.

Without further warning to anyone else, I caught the elevator up to Cliff's memorial. Sitting with my back against the small cairn, I breathed out slowly.

Why did arguing with Jack feel so wrong? 

Normal POV  
After she had calmed down a bit, Chaser went into town. The Darby's house was easy to find. Jack had left the garage door open, and she could see him working on a push bike.

Chaser knocked on the wall to get his attention. When he looked up, he looked unsurprised to see her there.

"What? Come to yell at me some more?"

"No, to apologize."

Jack looked at her. Her eyes were centred on his.

She was telling the truth.

"What for?" Chaser sighed and sat down next to him. She started helping with the bike.

"For forgetting you weren't used to the war we're fighting. Arcee used to tell me of how she had ran through brilliant cities to Ratchet. To tell him I was to be born in a few days. My mother wanted him to deliver the baby for her.  
Arcee was young at the time, perhaps the human equivalent of a teenager. While they were celebrating my birth, a messenger came for my father, asking for him to report to the nearest base to train new recruits. At first, when Arcee trained to be a scout, I stayed home with Mom until she and Dad were killed. She was my parents and sibling combined."

Chaser blew her bangs away from her face, then continued,  
"I learnt everything essential to a war, how to kill, offer aid. At Raf's age I was storming Decepticon cities with units of full grown mechs and femmes. I didn't laugh properly until I came to Earth."

Giving another careful study of Chaser's face, Jack read her emotions. Sadness. Regret. Anger.

The second she noticed him staring, Chaser got up to leave. Whilst she turned, Jack gently took her hand.

"It's not like that anymore."

"I know, but sometimes it feels that way."

* * *

**A/N: Chaser's hiding something... but what? Review please!**


	4. New Difficulties

**A/N: Don't own it.**

* * *

Chaser's POV

"So these are the blueprints for the space bridge?" I asked. Ratchet had pulled up the equation onto the main computer, and me, Raf and Miko were on the balcony, watching the doc-bot.

Well I was, they were playing video games.

"That would explain how Megatron plans to transport Cybertron's dead here, and Dark energon to them." Optimus said, joining Ratchet.

"So how do we stop him?" I asked.

"The space bridge is high in earth's atmosphere, impossible to reach."

"Use the ground bridge." Miko said, not looking up from the race.

Ratchet sighed, explaining how it only had limited range, how lots could go wrong. But he'd lost her when he started talking science.

Before anyone could speak again, the base was filled with the sound of Arcee's engine. Turning on the spot, I nodded at the rider, allowing a smile to cross my face.

"Welcome back, Jack," I said, a smile forming on my face.

* * *

All of the Autobots, excluding Ratchet, walked through the bridge. Ratchet tested the comm links, and all were safe.

I tried to finish the work I'd started, but couldn't concentrate on it. So I locked my arm blades onto my casts, and started beating the scrap out of the punching bag.

I sliced and chopped, the blades retracting under the pressure, continuing with my bare fists, only to stop when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

It was Jack. "Don't worry, they'll be fine." He said.

Behind him, Raf and Miko were staring at me. I winced as the punch bag fell off it'd chains, a loud thunk filling the silence of the base.

Meanwhile, Ratchet was tracing the signal helping the space bridge lock onto Cybertron. It was a global tracking centre in Texas. Ratchet sent all of us through the ground bridge, (due to Fowler still recovering from the energon prod) so Raf could hack in and stop the satellites.

* * *

"Something isn't right," I murmured, arm blades at the ready, "Where are the guards?" The others were ignoring me, watching Raf work his magic on the system.

Slowly, but surely, the satellites moved away from Cybertron. However, they kept turning back.

I turned, all set to curse Primus and the Thirteen, and came face to tentacle with Soundwave.

"Move!" I yelled as it lunged. Raf ducked down in his seat, allowing the claw to destroy our computer. As it backed away from the mess, it began to turn to Miko and Jack in the corner.

I ran towards it, my blades ready to stab it.

It lifted in that section, I went under and the sharp blade went in the wall, meaning I was stuck.

Miko grabbed the fire axe, but Soundwave snatched it from her and raised it high. "You gave it a weapon!" I cried at her, closing my eyes.

When I opened them, the tentacle had taken the axe and was leaving the room. Jack helped me pull the blade out and we followed the others in chasing the limb.

I ducked my head to stay streamlined, shooting ahead of the kids. Nothing can outrun me, even in this form. When I got to a hanger and immediately noticed the axe had severed the main wires, my focus stayed on the con invading.

The others caught up with me and Miko took a picture of Soundwave on the roof. I saw his visor flash back and I realised, the kids were in real trouble now. The cons, if they hadn't before, had brand new targets.

* * *

Normal POV

The kids and Ratchet sat watching the ground bridge.

Optimus and the others had had to destroy the space bridge using schematics for a reference. They were still going now.

"Arcee, follow the line from the flow regulator to the energon pump. There should be a valve."

_"I see it."_

"Good, to turn all that power against itself, all you need do is reverse the current."

There was grunting and finally, _"Current reversed."_

"Yes, right?" Fowler cheered, noticing the weird looks everyone was giving him.

"I'll ready the ground bridge." Ratchet started..

There was shooting on the comm link, and Arcee yelling. The CMO's optics widened, immediately looking at Chaser.

The kids could only watch in horror as Chaser fell, weak, into Fowler's arms.

The ground bridge roared into life, as she settled back in her seat, visibly shaken. "He got her…"

"Optimus, Arcee has been hit, can you verify her position?" Ratchet asked, as he checked the life signals. One was weak.

"How do you know Arcee's in danger, just from her falling?" Jack demanded. No-one answered.

They all stood together watching the bridge.

Optimus jumped through first, followed by Bulkhead. Miko gave a squeal and ran to him.

Chaser, Raf and Jack stood together as Bumblebee ran through… carrying an unconscious Arcee.

Chaser's POV

Me and Jack ran to her. Jack holding her arm, me hugging her. Her face was peaceful, missing its usual frown.

I remembered my instructors reminding me that this war will have losses that we don't want. But regardless of this, I forgot my training and did the only thing I could think of.

Normal POV  


Jack watched as Chaser held on to her sister's limp form. Her face was buried in Arcee's stomach, so no one could see it.

As he watched, her shoulders started shaking and strange noises were coming from her. She pulled away and everyone saw the pain in her eyes. But no tears.

Ratchet came closer to the group. "We've already lost one this week; by the AllSpark don't let it be two!"

Arcee stirred a bit and her optics opened. "Jack, Chaser, really? There are other bikes in the world."

"But you were my first." Jack said, smiling.

* * *

Chaser's POV

After a few weeks, life returned to normal.

Well, as normal as living with giant transforming robots can be.

Ratchet fixed Arcee's injuries, so she was able to spend more time with Jack and me. Whenever the kids came to base, they would bring textbooks to help me study. I was going to attend school in Jasper as soon as we found a suitable cover story.

It seemed only natural that the kids should do their science projects at the base. This only resulted in Raf's volcano exploding and Ratchet and Optimus thinking it was cons invading our base. After a short rant courtesy of our CMO, the sensors went off, so Optimus went with Bumblebee, leaving the rest of us at the mercy of Ratchet.

He soon took over the projects, causing me to evacuate to a very high air vent with my arm blades and my prototype blaster. The next day, they had to tell Ratchet that their projects had basically destroyed the school. But we were not drama free for long.

* * *

Bulkhead and Bumblebee had been following a signal in the Artic. It was so cold when we opened the ground bridge for them; I huddled near the computers warm circuitry!

Anyway, they had brought back a frozen pod, which we'd left in the training room to defrost.

Arcee and Optimus were going back to find out more about the pod. Before they left, Bumblebee and Bulkhead arrived with Jack, Miko and Raf.

"Wasn't expecting the carpool Arcee, what gives?"

"Tag team Jack. My turn for exploration duty."

"Too bad, it's a beautiful day for a drive. Would hate you to feel guilty for leaving me indoors…" I rolled my eyes,

"I didn't know you were a fan of the North Pole, Jack!"

"Indoors where it's warm!" Jack finished heading for the couch.

Ratchet gave the pair warnings about the temperature and through they went, Optimus promising Raf a snowball. Shortly afterwards the ground bridge short circuited.

Normal POV

Raf and Bee were deciding what to do. "Video game marathon?" Raf suggested. Before anyone could answer him, Ratchet yelled for Bumblebee and Bulkhead to help him out with some heavy lifting.

When they were gone, Raf reached for the controller, only for Miko to snatch it away and pass it to Jack, "You and me, Darby!"

"Yeah, not feeling up to it."

"Scared to lose to a girl?" Her goading worked.

The pair was soon tearing up the race track. Jack did offer it to Raf, but he was refused.

Chaser, who was reading the latest textbook, put it down sighing. "Hey Raf, why don't we explore the base?"

"Don't you know it off by heart?"

"I left some doors unopened." She said shrugging.

They were about to leave, but…

"CHASER! Here now!" Ratchet called.

She rolled her eyes and passed some paper and a headset to the kid. "That's the map of the base. If you get lost, call me, stay where you are and I'll come get you."

"Chaser!" Ratchet called again.

"Coming!"

On the main floor, the panels hiding the ground-bridge components had been lifted up. The CMO explained that they needed her to get into the smaller areas to check for more damage. Pulling down her goggles, Chaser hopped in, careful of the wires and circuitry.

Chaser's POV

I passed Ratchet up a part that had what looked like bite marks all over it.

While I was looking for more, Raf came back from exploring. "Hey guys, look what I found!" "We're busy!" Ratchet yelled, and then all three macho mechs let out the loudest shrieks I'd ever heard.

"Hey, what's going on?" I asked, popping my head back up.

"SCRAPLET! SCRAPLET!" Bulkhead yelled, waving around his wrecking ball.

Turning in dread, I shrieked, clambering out of the circuits and onto Bulkhead's shoulder.

Raf was holding the most terrifying thing that Cybertron had to offer.

* * *

**A/N: Uh-oh, trouble at the base!**


	5. Same Solutions

**A/N: Don't own Transformers.  
Chaser: But she owns me!**

* * *

**Normal POV**

Funny as it was, the humans couldn't understand what had Chaser and the bots so scared.

"What's a scraplet?" Raf asked from where he and the scraplet were being protected from the bots by Miko and Jack.

"Only the most vicious vermin on Cybertron." Ratchet explained.

"This?" Jack said, his voice full of disbelief, "are you kidding me?"  
"You're giant robots! Scrappy here is teeny." Miko added.

"You have no idea what damage that teeny thing can do!" Bulkhead cried, waving his blaster around.

Hoping for some hint that the bots hadn't completely lost it, Raf's eyes looked to Chaser, who was clinging on for dear life to Bulkhead's shoulder pad.

The noise of this confrontation woke up the scraplet, who had until now, been resting peacefully in Raf's arms. Looking to the three bots and techno organic, it threw back it's jaw, revealing rows upon rows of razor sharp teeth. Without further ado, it shot from the protection of Miko, Jack and Raf, and began skittering towards the huddle.

Chaser screamed, throwing her goggles at the scraplet. Taking her cue, Bumblebee and Bulkhead started shooting, forced to watch it dodge each blast and leap into the air. Within seconds, the scraplet had latched onto Bumblebee's leg, and was gnawing his way through the metal. Finally, a shot hit home and it was flung back to where Raf proceeded to whack it with a large crowbar.

He kept hitting it, even after it was offlined, until Jack grabbed it from him. "Easy there killer."

Chaser's POV

Raf came running over to Bumblebee. "Bee, I'm sorry! Is he going to be okay?" Ratchet replied it was a mesh wound, easy to fix. "Now do you believe me?" Bulkhead asked the three, "all scraplets do is dismantle machinery, and eat anything metal, especially living metal!"

"Well the bug's squashed, problem over right?" Jack asked.

I shook my head, shuddering. "When it comes to scraplets… there's never just one."

"I fear I know how they got in here." Ratchet said looking down a corridor.

* * *

The pod was completely unfrozen, with a huge hole in the middle of it. "It was a trap." I said to myself.

"A scraplet trap."

"Uh, an _empty _Scraplet trap" Bulkhead pointed out.

"Most likely ejected into space eons ago, only to wind up in the Artic, where the temperature kept them in stasis…" Ratchet started.  
"Until we brought the thaw." Jack added.  
"Now they're wide awake and ready to brunch." Miko said.  
"How many are we talking?" Raf asked.  
"Thousands." Ratchet told them, "All the electrical problems around base are sure signs of their infestation."

A loud beeping sounded from the main area, and when we went to investigate, we discovered that Arcee and Optimus were trying to contact us. Note the word trying.

The scraplets had gotten into the comm links.

"If we don't eradicate these pests, they could reduce the whole base to a scrapheap!" Ratchet explained.

"Well I say we bug out of here and let them keep it!" Bulkhead suggested. Bumblebee and me nodded and beeped in agreement.

"They can have my room!"

"Evacuation is not an option! If we don't get the ground bridge back online, Optimus and Arcee will perish."

"They will?" Jack asked worried.

Miko looked furious. "Bulkhead! You never run!"

"Miko, you haven't seen a swarm of these things devour a bot. I have! They pick you apart from the inside out, going for the small, juicy bits first, fuse by fuse, circuit by circuit, until there's nothing left. And I mean nothing! Not even your optics!"

Jack stepped forward, "You have to let us help!"

"We're not made of metal!" Raf reminded us.

"Yeah, the scraplets can't hurt us."

"Generally I find your fleshiness to be your least engaging quality, but it would appear to provide an advantage in these extreme circumstances." Ratchet thought aloud.

"Great, we'll pair up. One bot with each human, Chaser you stay with me and Ratchet." Jack explained.

"And we go on a bug hunt!" Miko finished.

Me, Bulkhead and Bumblebee shuddered.

Normal POV

Jack was guarding the two as Ratchet repaired the ground bridge. Chaser seemed to have developed an attachment to his arm, clinging on for dear life.

"How's it going over there?"

"Everything's back in working order, but the Bridge just won't open!"

The sudden skittering noise made Jack whip round, and Chaser to tighten her grip. Wherever the noise was coming from, it was one of the air vents. Giving a slight whimper, Chaser pointed up at one, where a legion was emerging. They looked around, fixing on Ratchet.

Without further ado, they leapt from the vents, immediately flying straight for their prey. "They can fly! You never said they could fly!"

Ratchet whipped round, and was swarmed by thousands of the devils, whilst Chaser was curled up on the floor, covering her head. Shaking wildly in fear, she only looked around when it was clear that Ratchet was the one in danger. Jack was beating away at the pests using a pipe, but soon gave up when they chomped into that. Finally, Chaser resorted to grabbing onto the scraplets, tugging them away, watching them completely ignore her.

"The fire extinguisher!" Ratchet yelled. Jack raced for it, unleashing frozen force onto the fragging devils. They slowly began to fall, clearly stasis locked.

"Ratchet, get your patch kit, we're leaking energon like- whoa!" Bulkhead yelled pointing at the ceiling. Another swarm was coming, and it had noticed the two new arrivals.

As they continued flying, Bumblebee attempted to blast them, but the scraplets were well used to that particular extermination problem. Soon every bot was covered, including Chaser, who was openly screaming her head off.

The kids leapt into action to save their friends, only stopping when there was a pile of scraplets on the floor.  
.

Chaser's POV

I could feel Arcee getting weaker. For a second, she was almost gone, but then she was more alert.

We at base though, were slumping against the machine controls, licking our wounds. Man I hate scraplets. Trust me, these little chunks might not look important, but for all I know, they could've been central to my nerves.

Jack meanwhile was giving another spray to the still terrors, "Did we get 'em all?"

We all strained our audios, picking up on a drilling sound in the vents. "No, these were mere scouts."

**"Scrap!" **Bumblebee cursed, falling back against the wall.  
"So the rest of them know we're in here?" Bulkhead asked.

"And if we allow ourselves to become their next meal, Optimus and Arcee will never make it home.

Oh man, we had to fix the bridge.

"We could send the scraplets anywhere on Earth!" Raf burst out.  
"What about the Artic? We know they don't do cold.

Miko added something to that, but I couldn't hear her. Arcee was extremely weak, and my condition probably wasn't helping on her end. Jack noticed my face, and sat me down near the others.

"Take some tin, and apply it to the main energon line's leak." Ratchet ordered, falling back in defeat.

Small drops of energon started seeping through my bandages, so I quickly went back to the first aid box. Before I got there though, my knees gave, and I barely managed to get to a couch. By the time the kids were running back, my vision was swimming away.

Just a few seconds couldn't hurt...

* * *

Normal POV

"Report bio-circuitry status."

"Levels are rising." Jack reported.

"Excellent. Rafael, keep a close watch on Bumblebee's electro-pulse matter, Miko, check Bulkhead's interface patch."

"It's steady."

"Looking good!" "Chaser, sit back down. Your systems are still getting over the cold Arcee felt and the energon you lost." She pouted, but lay back on the berth, watching her drip slowly empty out.. Her sister was asleep next to her.

"Perhaps you should get some rest too old friend," Optimus suggested to Ratchet,

"You saved quite a few lives today."  
"It wasn't all my doing. We're just lucky this infestation happened, on a Saturday."  
"Our human friends may be small, but they are strong."

Just then Miko screamed loudly, causing everyone to panic. "Scraplet?" Jack asked armed with a crowbar.

"SPIDER!" She yelled, "Is it on me?" She ran down the corridor away from the tiny spider on the wall.

The Autobots watched after her, saying nothing, until, "Did she just scream like a little girl?" Bulkhead asked. On her bed, Chaser laughed to herself.


	6. Deceptive Allies

**A/N: Hi guys! I made a nice long chapter!  
Chaser: Tell them why!  
A/N: I don't know what you're talking about.  
Chaser: Then I will. Ladies and Gentlemen, sadly Flaxen Haired Samurai neglected to mention that in bringing my story to you, she completely forgot about a little thing called 'Profile Settings' So feel free to shame her in the reviews that you can now leave.  
A/N: Alright, I only own Miss Smart-Mouth, not Transformers Prime.**

* * *

Chaser's POV

We had about three days of quiet, until the next drama at base.

Bulkhead and Miko had just finished their chores and were discussing what to do next. Bulkhead was less than enthusiastic about going dune bashing, so we were lucky there was a monster truck rally in town.

"Optimus, I'm receiving a signal on a restricted band. It appears to be coming from a star ship inside this solar system. It's an Autobot identification beacon." Ratchet explained bringing it up onto the main screen.

My mind was filled with guesses as to which bots it might be. "So there are other bots out there?" Jack asked the assembled group.

"The masses scattered to the galaxies when Cybertron finally went dark," Arcee told him, "but cons have been known to bait traps with false beacons."

The amounts of times that happened on Cybertron, I'm not surprised she remembers that. And when it happens to be your... a family member's beacon, you don't want to forget.

"Unknown vessel, this is Autobot Outpost Omega One. Identify yourself." Optimus said, his voice full of authority.

There was a bit of static then…_ "I've had warmer welcomes from Decepticon combat brigades."_

The voice was rough, but friendly. It was also unfamiliar, unless you're Bulkhead of course. "Wheeljack?" He asked, so excited he nearly shook Miko of his shoulder, "You old con crusher! What are you doing all the way out here?"

_"Bulkhead? That's you? What's with all the security?"_

"The rock we're on crawling with cons, how soon can you be here to even the odds?"

_"Sometime tomorrow, if I put metal to the pedal."_

"Another bot's coming here, how cool is that?" Miko asked getting excited. I took a glance at her, suddenly remembering Wheeljack.

"Wheeljack? I know of him by reputation only. Can you verify his voice print?" Optimus asked Bulkhead.

"He is one thousand percent the real deal Optimus." Bulkhead exclaimed.

"We will send landing coordinates Wheeljack, safe journey."

"See ya soon buddy, I'll make sure you get a proper welcome."

I groaned. Wrecker welcomes mean lots of stuff gets broken. And lots of stuff broken means a lot of work for me. And a lot of work for me equals one unhappy mechanic.

"So who's the boyfriend?" Arcee asked.

Bulkhead laughed at her, "Me and Jackie go way back, we were part of the same warrior unit, the Wreckers! Which means the cons are gonna wish he never found us."

I hit my head off the railing in desperation. Two Wreckers plus Miko equals no peace. And Bulkhead had left the Wreckers!

The next day, we were all huddled around the main computer, me with my toolbox, in case the ship needed any repairs. Which was probably more than likely.

"Wheeljack's ship is nearing the landing point," Arcee confirmed.

"You think he's here to visit?" Raf asked Jack, me and Miko.

"Maybe he'll stay!" Miko wondered with her usual excitement. "Hmmm, have to find his own human though."

"Primus forbid." I said.

"Ground Bridge cycling up." Ratchet interrupted. He pulled the switch, only for it to spark madly back. A swift punch from the CMO, and it was fine. "Blasted scraplets! The equipment hasn't been the same since the infestation."

"So Wheeljack's going to land halfway around the world and then you'll bridge him here?" Jack questioned.

"We can't risk revealing the location of our base, just in case the Decepticons are tracking Wheeljack's ship." Optimus explained.

Miko said that she had never seen Bulkhead so stoked, since he was pacing. "You're gonna love Wheeljack! We were like brothers and tonight, we are gonna party!"

"Sweet!" Miko cried.

An alarm suddenly went off, and the screen showed some Decepticon signals nearing Wheeljack's ship. "Bogies!" Arcee said angrily. "Closing fast on Wheeljack's position!"

"Con scum!" Bulkhead yelled. I threw my wrench at his head. "Though scum they may be, please watch your language around young ones." I said waving at the humans. Then it hit me. I was turning into Ratchet! Oh scrap!

"Open the bridge Ratchet! We're missing all the action!" Bulkhead yelled, him, Bee and CeeCee ready at the entrance.

Ratchet did as he was told, adding he would prepare sick bay. "Who for? The cons? This is Wheeljack we're talking about!" Bulkhead then ran through the Ground Bridge, followed by the others. About five minutes later they ran, back through, this time with a white mech, detailed in red and green.

Ratchet powered down the Ground Bridge gently, only for it to close none too gently.

"Jackie, come here. Meet my other best buddy: Miko! She can wreck with the best of us!"

"I'll second that!" I added.

Wheeljack walked over to Miko. "You keeping Bulkhead outta trouble?"

"I try. But trouble usually finds us anyway!"  
"We're going to get along just fine." Jackie stated.

The stomping feet of our leader told his arrival before he did. "Optimus Prime, it's a privilege." Wheeljack spoke with respect.  
"Likewise soldier, what have you to report from your long journey?"  
"Been bouncing from rock to rock, looking for friend or foe, now I find both!"  
"We are few, but strong. We have suffered losses, but have grown. We always relish welcoming new members into our fold."  
"I would be honoured."

"Then allow our main mechanic, Chaser to bring your ship here for repairs. She will require no help in fixing it." Optimus finished.

Wheeljack turned to Cee, "So you're not just a pretty face huh?"  
"I'm Arcee, Chaser's my sister. And she's over there." She said pointing at me.  
The look on Wheeljack's face was priceless to say the least. Before he could say anything, Bulkhead intervened. "Let's get this party started!" Then he punched Wheel jack in the back. The two Wreckers then belly-bounced.

"Oh, joy." Ratchet lamented. I could only nod in agreement. I really was turning into him.

Normal POV

Miko was playing her guitar extremely loudly.

Chaser had Wheeljack's ship in another room, ready for repairs, but at everyone's insistence, she was there 'enjoying' the party.

The two ex-Wreckers were 'lobbing' one of their favourite pastimes. This was basically catch, with a two hundred pound ball.  
Arcee, Jack and Chaser were sitting (or in Arcee's case, standing) at a safe distance from the pair while Jack was tutored in the fine art of lobbing, also watching Miko trying to get Raf to dance.

"Come on! Show us your moves!"  
"Oh, alright." The pestered twelve year old got up and started moving his arms at certain angles.

Jack laughed, "Of course! The Robot!"

He looked at Chaser who seemed to be somewhere else in her head. He grinned at her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, snapping her out of it. "Where's Optimus?"  
"For a drive." Arcee answered, "Primes don't party."

Meanwhile Bulkhead sent another shot at Wheeljack, which he missed, and the ball landed on the ground bridge controls. "I am attempting to perform sensitive calibrations here!" Ratchet scolded.

"Sorry doc, guess we're a little charged up." Wheeljack said, retrieving the ball. He stopped near Ratchet. "Built this bridge from scratch huh?" He asked, suddenly very interested in it.

Chaser, who had moved from the noise, noticed. "He did."

"That's quite a feat of engineering."  
"Yes, it is." Ratchet said happily. "Something, wrong with it?"

Chaser's ears pricked up. Something seemed off.  
"I didn't care for the way it sounded, this last jump. I put it in shut down."  
Wheeljack's optics narrowed, "What if you need to use it?"  
"Ohh, I can't disrupt the defrag process, without causing, irreparable damage"

"So, uh, how long will the de-frag take?"  
"A few hours," Ratchet said, not turning round, "if we're lucky. Maybe longer."

Chaser's POV

"So there we were, no communications," Bulkhead said. He was telling us a story about the Wrecker days on Cybertron. "Low on energon, surrounded by cons, so what does Wheeljack do?" He asked the entranced humans.

Except for me. My ears and optics were on Bulk, but my mind was on Wheeljack's ship. The bots that were present were sipping some energon that Wheeljack had in his ship.

It was nice and cold, pretty low grade too, but felt weird when it hit my stomach. Must be this story, they get boring the more you hear them, right?".

"Tell 'em Jackie!" Bulkhead called, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Miko looked expectantly at Wheeljack, who simply answered "What I do best!"  
"He chucks his only grenade smack into the primary heat exchanger!"  
"Yeah, seemed a good idea at the time."  
"The joint went super-nova!" Bulkhead exclaimed, waving his servo's for effect.

"Awesome!" Miko whispered.  
"Yeah, I'm still picking shrapnel out of my backside!" Bulkhead showed us a piece he'd found just now.

"I'm not surprised, given the size of your backside!" Arcee joked, looking at me.

**"Nice one!" **Bumblebee laughed. The systems suddenly made some noise.

I looked over at Ratchet who was typing something in. I wasn't the only one watching either. Before I could say anything, Bulkhead burst in. "There it is, Jackie's signature. One grenade, one shot." He looked at Wheeljack, "Hey, you alright? He asked concerned for his friend.

"What?"  
"You don't seem like yourself…"  
"What do you mean?"  
"I don't know, you seem quiet."

"I've been stuck in a can too long. I should go top side, before I go stir-crazy."

"I have patrol in the morning, you can come with!"

"Let's go now!"  
"And break up the party? Come on, the gang's loving you! You gotta tell 'em about the battle of Dark Mount Pass."  
"You tell them, you tell it better than I do. How about if Miko and Chaser show me the rest of the base?"  
"Uh, yeah, sure Jackie. Go ahead." I didn't miss that note of suspicion.

"Tour starts now!" Miko said hopping down from the block we were on. I followed, more slowly. Miko was questioning Wheeljack. "Can you play any instruments? Can you fly? Have you thrashed more Decepticons than Bulkhead?" We walked down the corridor with him, me leaving my energon cup behind.

* * *

"So, that's pretty much it. The energon stockpile that I'm not allowed to touch, power generator that I'm not allowed to touch and armoury that I'm not allowed to touch. Everything you need to blow the joint sky high." Miko finished her tour.

"Why aren't you allowed to touch anything?"

"I repeat her last sentence, everything you need to blow the joint sky high. She does that too well on her own!" I answered.

"Where's this bunker located exactly?"  
"If I told ya, I'd have to rip out your spark chamber!" Miko said, doing her worst spy impression yet. Wheeljack looked faintly alarmed.

"She's kidding." I clarified for him.

Miko muttered something that sounded like 'spoilsport'. "Just outside Jasper, Nevada. Not that I would expect that to mean anything to you."

"Can't say it does." Wheeljack said, his face in shadow. "Any way out of here besides bridging?"

"Why? You're not planning to leave already are you?" Miko asked, looking sad, then her emotion changed back to cheerful. "Come on, we'll show you."

I followed them, wondering why the way out was so important to him. We came back into the main area, where Bulkhead was talking to the others.  
"Hey what are you guys talking about?" Wheeljack asked.  
"I was just telling the guys about you and me. At the Battle of Dark Mount Pass."  
"That's uh, a heck of a story."  
"Yeah, tell it!" Bulkhead suddenly demanded.

"Talk, talk, talk! Why don't we talk about it after off-roading?" Miko interrupted.  
"Miko, stay out of this!" Bulkhead said, shocking us all. Something was seriously wrong!

"Bulkhead, easy." Cee said, trying to calm him down.

"I'm not sure I…"  
"Tell it!"  
"Fine, you want to live in the past, Bulkhead?"

Me and Miko looked at each other.  
"The Wreckers were trapped, between a Decepticon patrol and the Smelting Pit. The cons were vicious, baring down on us with everything they had. Me and Bulkhead engaged the enemy and left them for scrap. Then I made us a way out, using their backsides as stepping stones over the molten metal. Isn't that how it happened?"  
"Yeah, except for one thing," Wheeljack optics went wide. "I _wasn't_ there! I'd already left the Wreckers to join up with Optimus. But you wouldn't know that, if all you'd done was access Wheeljack's public service record!"

* * *

**A/N: (Hiding in the attic) Chaser's found the notes for later in the story, and she's currently trying to get my head on a stick!  
Chaser: (Looking up at the hatch with a very sharp stick) Hmmm... I wonder...**


	7. Back To Normal

**A/N: Hey, sorry I've been gone for a while, but let's just say GCSE year tends to come packed with homework. I don't own anything but Chaser.**

* * *

Normal POV  
"Bulkhead, What has that got to do with- whoa!" Miko was roughly snatched up into the fake Wheeljack's servo. His other hand was empty, and looking down, saw that Jack had dived to push Chaser away.

"He's a con!" Arcee yelled, aiming her punch. Makeshift dodged swiftly, pushing Ratchet away from the Ground Bridge controls and holding Miko out.

"Stay back, or I squeeze her into pulp!" Any move the Autobots had planned went right out of their heads. Miko was the priority now.  
Makeshift glanced towards the controls, nodding happily to see it was nearly at full power.

"Wheeljack! What are you doing?" Miko squealed, still struggling for freedom.

"It's not Wheeljack!"

"Decepticon coward!" Bulkhead shouted, "Let the girl go and face me!

"Don't fret, plenty of fighting to come." Makeshift goaded softly, staring down at the humans. Chaser and Jack immediately pulled Raf backwards, until Bumblebee was in front of them.  
"Is there a real Wheeljack?" Jack asked.

"Oh indeed." Makeshift smirked, again checking the Ground Bridge. "I expect Lord Starscream is making sport of him as we speak."

Noticing Chaser's pale face, Jack reached for her hand, twisting his fingers into hers. She appeared surprised by this, but made no move away. Makeshift, meanwhile, continued typing away at the Ground Bridge, finally pleased to see it open. "Let's get this party started."

A form came through the Bridge, right pede, hitting against Makeshift's helm, making him release Miko into Bulkhead's hand.

"I'd shut this hole before the stink comes through," suggested the real Wheeljack, unsheafing his swords. "Ugly's mine."

Chaser's POV

Two battle masks slid into place, two sets of swords came out, making it near impossible to tell the pair apart. Every blow was expertly parried or redirected. Finally, one managed to knock the others swords away and take them, letting Bulkhead smile in triumph, "That's my Jackie!"

* * *

Once Makeshift had been 'ejected' Wrecker style, the party restarted. But having had enough of guitars and dancing, I'd carefully removed myself to the cavern up on top where we'd stored Wheeljack's ship for his departure. My hands moved across the sleek metal of the controls, feeling the light hum of the dormant engine's repair systems.

"Little rude to steal a ship, isn't it?" Wheeljack's tone wasn't angry, so I shrugged.

"Technically it's Iacon Autobot Base property. Therefore, any soldier is entitled to enter with beforehand permission from higher authority." I finally took a breath, slouching back in my seat.

"Key word being soldier." Wheeljack quipped. "So, which unit are you from? Nursing? Communications? No, I've got it" Inter stellar relation-"  
"I spent a vast majority of my training period in the Delta squad, was then transferred under the command of Ultra Magnus to be a scout for the Wreckers but transferred back to rejoin the Delta squad in time for my last tour of duty."

Wheeljack still didn't believe me, "So you should know the name of the previous Wrecker commander. I'll give you a hint, he was the fathe-"

"Commander Thruster was the previous FIC but was most famous for fathering the last Sparkling to be born before the war began. He and his wife were killed during a Decepticon attempt to kidnap said Sparkling." I smiled slightly, holding that image in my mind.

"That's pretty good kid, so how'd you know that?"

"He was my dad."

* * *

The next day we were back in a clear area to see Wheeljack off. He was going back to travelling the galaxy, so he wanted to get going as soon as possible. "There's room for two Bulk, even with a backside like yours!" Wheeljack offered, "Who knows what we might find out there? Some of the old crew."

Bulkhead looked back at Miko. She was looking down with Jack's arm around her and Raf trying to be comforting. He looked back at Wheeljack. "Sounds like fun Jackie, but my ties are here now, with them, with her."

Hearing this, Miko perked up a bit. "If anything happens to my favourite Wrecker, I'm coming after you!" Wheeljack warned her.

"I'll take good care of him." Miko replied, getting out her phone, "Now say cheese!" She took a picture of the two ex-Wreckers.

We all waved to the star-ship flying away from Earth.

* * *

Normal POV 

"Chaser!" Ratchet yelled, gently dumping something on a lab table. "Chaser!"

From somewhere in the base, a loud crash destroyed the momentary quiet, then another, and another, coming closer each time. Finally, one of the overhead vents clattered down, along with Chaser. She had lost her goggles in the air conditioning unit, and judging by the rings around her eyes, she'd been cleaning.

"You bellowed?" Then her eyes caught sight of the unmoving form on the table. It's face was as familiar as her own, the only thing different... "What's going on?"

"I've found a way to temporarily restore you to your Cybertronian form." Ratchet's face grew softer, "To make the shift permanent, I'll need the notes that were used to-"

"They're on Cybertron Ratchet, but thanks. I mean it."

Giving a nod, Ratchet carried her to the decontamination chamber, then wheeled in the table.

Chaser's POV

Two things I hate about operations: One, a con got the drop on you, and Two: you've always missed something!

Stretching out my arms, I inspected my basic systems, running through the checks like an oil change. My optics latched onto my human form, and had to smile.

Stepping into the main hub was another story. Ratchet and the kids were clustered around a screen, completely ignoring my approach. "Morning Doc!"

"You're still functioning correctly I hope?" I pouted, but came to stand next to him, suddenly aware of how small I was. If I was to make an educated guess... I'd say I was only up to CeeCee's shoulder!

"Ratchet, there was a new bot and you didn't tell us?!" Miko burst out. Suddenly recognising a string of questions coming, Jack and Raf clamped hands over her mouth.

"Your natural growth didn't continue, which is strange. I trust I can rely on your teenage instincts?"

Jack suddenly snapped out of it, "Chaser?"

* * *

**Flaxen: Just for reference, I had no exact idea where to place Chaser's height, but she is pretty scrawny even for her age.  
Chaser: I'm not scrawny! I'm svelte!  
Flaxen: Have you been watching Code Lyoko again?  
Chaser: Maybe...  
**


	8. Aged Wounds

**Flaxen: Dear readers, I thank you for your continued viewings, but I really have no idea how you feel about it. Reviews make me smile! **

* * *

Normal POV 

"Our assailants are not Decepticons, they are human." Optimus reported.  
"Human?" Raf and Jack questioned.  
"Oh please, taking on our bots? They're road kill!"

Chaser shook her head, pushing a block against the balcony wall, "Optimus swore never to hurt humans. Ratchet, why are we only getting three Autobot signals?"

"Arcee is guarding the D.N.G.S inside Optimus's trailer."

"The what now?"  
"That's what we said." Miko added cheekily. Sighing, Chaser sat on her block, looking towards the Ground Bridge. Her winglets slouched slightly, along with the two pigtail like crests at the back of her head.

She looked like a ten year old who'd been refused a toy. Ratchet frowned, "You can't go."  
"Yeah, yeah."

"Why not?" Miko asked, before Jack could stop her.

"No alt mode." Came the whispered reply.

"Optimus, prepare to initiate phase two. Five miles south, you will reach the rendezvous point."  
"This D.N.G.S, what does it do?"

"It's some kind of power supply, but it could send the whole USA into meltdown!" Raf explained. The screen beeped, and six Decepticon signals appeared, closing in on the others.

_"Air support? Ours or theirs?" _Fowler asked.  
"Optimus, you have company!"

Every Autobot turned off course, ready to face the cons. "If I scan a mode, can I-"  
"Stay here? Of course."  
Giving a frown, Chaser slouched further. Miko's yelling regrabbed her attention, "Optimus is down!"

"MECH's gonna grab the D.N.G.S, we need to think quickly!"  
"You mean like a phase three?" Raf gabbled. Pulling away, Jack paced in a circle,

"Alright, if they want the D.N.G.S, they have to get on that train."  
"So if we get there first... we could run some human on human interference!" Miko yelped.

"Absolutely not!"  
"Ratchet's right, Bridging onto a train going at ninety miles an hour is practically suicide."

"The US of Meltdown? Lives are at stake!"  
"Yes, yours! I can't even count the ways it can go wrong."

"Would having coordinates help?" Ratchet relented for a second, giving Chaser a small window. She snuck a look at Raf's laptop, then entered the coordinates into the Ground Bridge controls.

"I say they try."

* * *

"MECH's landing on the train!"  
"Hold onto something, if I time this right, the fork should throw them off." Raf quickly typed in the command, and switched the tracks to another direction.

"One obstacle clear." Chaser murmured, watching the progress.

The multiple screens suddenly switched over, a cartoon bomb taking their place. "What in the name of the AllSpark is that supposed to be?" The bomb's fuse finally ran down, turning Raf's laptop into a sparking mess.

"Ratchet, say one thing about human technology, and I swear..."

* * *

Chaser's POV 

Ratchet didn't say anything, but he did tell Optimus where the kids were. He had barely acknowledged it, before a low rumbling filled the radio. "What was that?"

"MECH blew up the tracks and the train brakes!" Miko screamed.

Without warning to either Ratchet or Raf, I pulled the switch again, priming myself for a run. I had just pushed off the ground, and was nearly through when Ratchet pulled me back by my left servo. "You've just undergone intensive spark surgery!"

My teeth gritted, I yanked my wrist free, and started racing again. "Rafael! Hit the switch!"

Quickly throwing myself forwards hands first, I'd only just pulled out of the Bridge before it disappeared. Ratchet was going to kill me, that much was certain. Might as well put some distance between us. Following the train tracks, I saw came into sight of... "Scrap!"

Miko wasn't kidding. That train definitely had no intention of stopping and there was no way of telling which car the D.N.G.S or the kids were in. So, latching onto the back rail before I lost it, I grabbed the tracks with my spare servo.  
There was a slight lapse in speed, but my hand broke through the plank, and then another, and another. By the time the train actually stopped, I'd let go.

A shadow fell over me, lifting my scrawny self into a sitting position. Ratchet gently tipped some energon into my throat, and supported me through the waiting Bridge.

* * *

Much to my amazement, Ratchet didn't rat me out, but unofficially grounded me. My fix it pile went down drastically in that time, and I got a load of paperwork out the way. And after my grounding was over, I discovered something truly amazing.

I could pretend to be someone. Fowler had already left me with fake ID and records, but it felt really weird acting like this girl. Miko and Raf took me around Jasper, stopping in at KO Burger to lend support to Jack.  
But it was Jack's turn that made me smile.

After a heavy duty training session, I'd slopped onto the sofa, fanning myself with a magazine. Miko had just switched on one of her anime films, about some blonde idiot falling in love with an impossible boy. For some reason though, she kept turning to look at me, eyes glinting.

By the time I'd caught on, it was too late. Some cloth slipped over my eyes, blocking all vision. Despite my best efforts, Raf's knot held fast. Jack softly told me to calm down, and to watch my step. He guided me over to the Bridge, and told me to take off the blindfold once I was through.

Seconds later, a cold wind hit my cheeks. Again fumbling with the knot behind my head, I felt it suddenly rip, squinting in the sudden light. "Where are we?"

"A place in Russia, hang on, I hid some coats around here." Jack stepped behind me, feet crunching.

Russia, wasn't that the place with all the- "Ow!"

"Ice." I laughed, "You brought me to the slippiest place on the planet." Jack stood up from where his leg had betrayed him, rubbing his butt. He tossed a coat over to me, zipping his own up.

"You mean you've never heard of ice skating? It's a favourite in Jasper, mainly because we never get to do it naturally." Jack plonked himself down, lacing up strange boots with knives on the base. There was a pair next to him, evidently for me.

Normal POV

After lacing his skates up, Jack helped Chaser with hers, then glided along, holding onto her hands. She got the concept fairly quickly, gaining confidence.

Suddenly, she slipped over, pulling him down with her. Chaser recovered slightly, then tried to get up. Each attempt ended in her falling back over again, bringing a smile to Jack's face. Finally getting into a standing position, Chaser nodded triumphantly.

After getting up himself, Jack edged back over towards the lake edge, watching. Chaser began to regain her speed, going round the pond at a breakneck pace.

"You do know how to stop, right?"

"How to...Jack!" Quickly getting to his feet, Jack moved into the middle, holding out an arm. She skated into it, landing on her rear once again. The sudden force had also toppled Jack, who swore loudly.

A new sound caught his ears, and he got into a sitting position, gawking. Chaser was bent over, clutching her stomach and shaking wildly, laughing loudly. Her eyes were squeezed shut, the new expression making Jack smile as well. Sure he'd heard the nervous 'Ratchet's angry and holding a wrench' giggles she used, but this... was different.

The creases in her face began to smooth, except for one. "Your- your face!" She was off again, not seeing Jack's surprised look.

Those five seconds had been enough to answer a nagging question. Every time he, Miko or Raf were concentrating enough, she'd turn her face, switching the view.

Because if they'd stared enough, they'd have noticed the long, narrow scar that ran from the outside corner of her left eye down to the base of her nose. The thin scar that had blended in so well with the rest of her face, until she'd crinkled her cheeks in laughter.

Until the ice had wiped a little of her makeup away.

* * *

**Flaxen: Poor Chaser. No way to explain away that, and no way to bring it up.  
Chaser: Faulty repairs! **


	9. Electric Payback

**Flaxen: We now return to your regularly scheduled Transformer Prime. Which I don't own.  
Chaser: She owns me though!**

* * *

Normal POV

When Miko and Bulkhead got back from detention, it was in the middle of an argument. "You sound like my parents!"

"Aren't they Japanese?"  
"They may speak a different language, but you say the same things." Bulkhead rubbed a hand over his face, trying another tactic,

"That's because we want the best for you. Making sure you go to school, not jail!"  
"Miko Nakadai, international jailbreaker." Chaser murmured, switching her welder on. In front of her lay a complicated circuit, only half defused.

The bickering pair ignored her, continuing to argue about Miko's choice of future. Jack shrugged, glancing over at the electronic work Chaser was fiddling with. "Is it safe to use a welder on that?"

"Perfectly, just a little more to the left... then a bit to the right..." She moved the flame slightly over another node, deactivating it. A spark escaped onto her skirt, but fizzled out just as quickly.

"What is this?" She shrugged, flipping down an extra lens for her goggles,

"Nothing much, I found it in the fixing pile. Fairly simple system, just gotta be careful not to-" The welder slipped slightly, sending a red hot flame over the central power core. The small screen in the centre of the circuit switched on, initiating a one minute countdown. "Oh frag!"

Quickly dropping everything, Chaser grabbed the circuit, running for a corridor away from everyone, swearing the whole time.

Chaser's POV

Don't get me wrong, I love my mechanic work, but usually that entails fixing things that won't kill humans should I go wrong. Really, I should've been wearing a full welder's mask and probably some rubber, especially with that power source it was connected to.

I skirted away from another corner, tripping up on my own laces. The circuit slipped from my fingers, sliding across the floor. Lifting my head up, I flicked both lenses off my goggles, and made to run back.

Of course, with my brilliant luck, I only had about a second left. And my fingertip was touching it.

"Oh Pit."

Normal POV 

A medium to long explosion sounded, along with a few choice curses, growing ever louder as Chaser ran back. Jack and Raf watched her run up to the mini kitchen, and carefully peel off what was left of her jacket's right arm, hissing the entire time. The boys wrinkled their noses at the smell of cooked skin.

Most of her arm was bright red, with flecks of blue in between clots. Carefully leaning the injured arm on the side, she reached for the cold tap. Raf's eyes widened considerably, "Chaser, you really shouldn't do that!"

"Why not?" She laughed, feeling the temperature with her good hand. Nodding, she then placed her wrist under the tap, letting the cool water run over it.

"I'm getting Mom on speed dial." Jack whispered, reaching for his phone.

He sped up when Chaser screamed.

Chaser's POV 

"Told you, never run cold water over an oily electrical burn." Jack laughed, leaning back in his seat. I scowled at him, sneaking a peek under the towel he'd thrown over my burn. Arcee had lent me her holoform program, so the energon in the burn was hidden.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Just enjoying knowing something you don't."

"Oh how was I supposed to know that the oil was important?"

He was right, of course. If I had been wearing the right gear, then the electricity wouldn't have hit my arm and more importantly, I'd be taking a shower to clean the oil off, rather than sitting in Jasper's ER. I swore sharply, grabbing my cell.

_"This is Special Agent William Fowler, I'm currently on an intensive training retreat, and unavailable until Tuesday." _

"Fowler, it's Chaser, I need medical records stat! I'm in the waiting room now!" Suddenly, what he'd said hit me like a ton of bricks. "Tuesday! Oh man, Ratchet!"

_"We're busy Chaser."  
_"Sure, I'll just reveal out undercover secret because _someone _can't rig a medical database quickly enough. C'mon Ratchet, you said yourself, you can't treat my burns because they're organic in nature!"  
_"Alright, slow down, I'll see what I can do. Stall until then, and tell Jack he's needed back here."  
_"I heard." Jack whispered, looking over the forms a nurse had brought over. "Just let me sort you out with Mom and then I'll leave."

"Thanks."

We waited for another five minutes, when a hurried looking woman spotted Jack, running over to us. "Jack? Who's this?"

"Mom, this is Emily. Emily, my Mom." I gave a small wave,  
"Hi."

Normal POV 

June winced when she saw the damage. "You're lucky the electricity didn't pass through your whole body. How'd this happen?" Chaser shrugged, watching the computer.  
"I'm not so good with safety protocols. Jack's already chewed me out."

Smiling slightly, June examined the mess further. "You say oil was involved?"  
"Yeah."  
"Then I can't any oils on it, but I can wrap it for you. Would you like a cast?"

"Just the gauze please." Nodding, the nurse set about the task of wrapping the bandage up and down Chaser's arm,  
"How do you know my son? I think I'd remember him introducing his girlfriend."

Chaser felt her face glow warm, and quickly glanced into the mirror on the wall, breathing in relief when the blue disappeared. "We're just good friends. I met him near the school, and he sometimes comes out to me and Sadie in the desert. We don't get many people out there."

"That explains the motorcycle and his after school activities." June neatly tied a bow in the gauze, then stepped back to complete the paperwork. "We'll need to keep you in overnight, just for observation. I'll also need to talk to your sister so she knows you're safe."

Chaser's POV 

I love my sister, really, but she can go a little over board on the protectiveness. Especially when it involves an injury that she can't keep an eye on. And very much especially when there's a mission at hand.

Turns out the Ancient Greeks stumbled across an energon harvester and it was in a museum. So the Autobots had to send in the kids to grab it before the cons, who then decided to show up.

When you consider my choices, I'd much rather be there than in a children's ward listening to screaming kids all day. But with tighter security than Fort Knox, Jasper Hospital was pretty hard to escape from. But somehow, despite the screaming kids, I was relaxed. At least until lights out.

"What about the new admittance, Emily?" One nurse whispered, "Did you see that burn?"  
"Yeah, June's kept her in overnight, told her it was for observation. She's more worried about the other scars."

My eyes widened, alarm bells ringing in my head. Oh man, I'd forgotten my legs and other arm, still covered from...well let's just say they weren't exactly hidden. And I'd told June I rarely saw people except my sister and Jack, all while she was treating a severe burn all along my arm.

I'd heard about this on the news, and hated the slaggers who were guilty of it.

"You don't think the sister would hurt her like that? They seemed too relaxed with each other!"  
"So? The kid could just be scared stiff, scared of what might happen if she didn't go along."

They thought Cee was hurting me deliberately. But how could I explain that wasn't the truth?

* * *

**Flaxen: And that kids is why you shouldn't attempt to fix electronic disasters in a skirt.  
Chaser: Only then?  
Flaxen: Or at all! Leave it to the professionals!**

* * *

**A/N: Please, please, please review, I feel desperate!**


	10. Strange Emotions

**Flaxen: I hate school! Don't own TFP! :Cybertronian:**

* * *

Normal POV 

Two days after Chaser's accident, she and Jack were sitting in his kitchen. Chaser was getting a decent breakfast, and Jack was covering tracks with his Mom.

"I know I should have told you, but she's stubborn like that. Yeah I'll tell her." Jack rolled his eyes at Chaser, causing heavily stifled laughter. "Yeah, love you Mom."

"So, am I clear?" Chaser smirked, shrugging on her jacket. The arm underneath was pink and scabby, but uninfected.  
"For now, yeah. By the way 'Emily', Mom says you need to stop working on the car without the right gear. Got that?" Jack looked at his watch, then started packing his school bag. "Any idea when you can start school?"

"Hopefully sometime soon. Why, you miss me?"  
"A little."

* * *

Chaser sat back in her chair, twisting this way and that. :Ratchet! I'm bored!: The doc sighed loudly, looking at the screens, psychically begging Optimus to return with the team.  
"Nothing left on the fixing pile?"  
"Nope."

"Any training manoeuvres?" Chaser shook her head, spinning back around.

Ratchet shrugged, returning to work. Then a thought hit him, "Chaser, how old are you again?"

"Earth or Cybertronian?"  
"Both."  
"16 in Earth years, and uh, how many days are there in a Cybertronian year? I'm over a thousand anyway. Why?"

With a shake of his hand, Ratchet soon had her on the balcony next to him. The screen showed a complete body scan, taken a year ago. Chaser cringed lightly, glancing at the pigtails she'd had back then. The doc frowned lightly, preparing another scan. "Go and get your skele-suit, hurry back."

Mocking a salute, Chaser ran for her room, changing into the skin-tight item. It was deep black, and resembled a diver's suit without all the equipment. Originally it had been named the Exo-Skeletal Suit Mark One, but Chaser had shortened it to skele-suit to annoy Fowler. Ratchet was holding up his wrist scanner, motioning towards a black screen.

Holding her arms at right angles, Chaser held her breath until the scan was complete.

* * *

When the team returned, Chaser was meekly writing another essay, Ratchet was working, and the scanning equipment had been put away again. Bulkhead and Bumblebee shrugged, heading to pick up the kids. So engrossed in her work, Chaser didn't notice Raf and Miko chattering loudly.  
"Hey Chaser, did you hear?"  
"Mind if I say no?"

Miko pouted, bouncing into the seat opposite, "Jack took on the biggest bully in school in a race. Apparently Sierra was the lead reason."

* * *

Chaser's POV  
  
Sierra. Sierra. Sierra. That name kept rebounding inside my head like the rubber ball I used to throw against the wall. It hurt just as much too.

My hands wavered over my cd collection, eventually picking out a classical mix. Best way to clear your head is laser dodging. But since I'm banned from the weapon racks following an incident involving me, Ratchet and a nice hole in the training room floor, looks like I'm dancing.

First position. _"Yeah, Jack's really into her as far as I can tell."_

Second position with hint of attitude. _"She's a cheerleader believe it or not."_

Third. _"And of course she's popular, always a good thing."_

Fourth with... with... I sighed, dropping into a sitting position, head in hands. _Sierra, Sierra, SIERRA! _The tune carried on, dwindling into nothing, moving swiftly onto the next track.

I needed to get out of base for a while.

* * *

"Camping? You okay, sis?"  
"What, yeah. Yeah. So, can I?" Arcee raised an optic ridge, but looked to Optimus. He looked at me, pulling off the Look.

"Are you sure there is nothing troubling you? Anything at all?"

"I swear on my good name." Optimus frowned, but that was normal.

"Promise you'll call me or Ratchet when you want to come home." Arcee said, bending down to my level. I nodded, already on my way to pack.

When I first came to Earth, it was sort of a game of Ratchet's to keep me out of Fowler's sight. So we'd purchased camping equipment, and looked up good spots for overnight or weeklong stays. Of course, we're not very good at keeping secrets so that ruse lasted about a day so the equipment was locked away for a while.

But sometimes when I need to get away, it's nice.

* * *

Normal POV 

The bridge dropped Chaser off in the Manuel Antonio National Park, right by the river. The water trickled by, soothing the girl's already frazzled nerves. She quickly put her hat on, deciding to wait until she found shade before changing. Hitching her bag higher up her back, Chaser began to hike along the riverbed, which soon opened into a crowded beach. She backed away into the forest, finally finding a spacious cavern.


	11. Author's Note

**Dear Readers,  
Whilst not a moaning person by nature, I'm feeling disappointed about the lack of reviews. So, time for an annoying backstory:  
During the summer, three years ago, I started writing this fanfic to cope with the boredom. However I could not post it because my then email was faulty and couldn't receive emails. In those three years I followed the series diligently, adding and changing parts of Chaser's story to fit around it.  
But I can't help but think there's absolutely no point in continuing unless people actually care enough to leave some words of encouragement. So, as bad as it seems, I won't be continuing this story until at least one person says something.**

Love The FlaxenHairedSamurai


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